His Butler: A role reversed
by dashdotcom
Summary: Ciel falls into hard times when he finds out that all of his family s wealth and fortune were illegally gained and don t actually belong to him. After he loses his home Prince Soma comes up with a solution which Ciel feels forced to accept, even though it means losing the lifestyle and status he s accustomed to.
1. Chapter 1

"Gone? What the blazes do you mean gone?!" Ciel demanded of the lawyer standing before him. He glanced at Sebastian who was standing obediently in a corner and listening carefully to everything. He´d heard the whole exchange, even while making the tea for their guests. Apparently Scotland Yard had seized all of Ciel´s wealth, his money, his lands, his house.

"Like we told you Lord Phantomhive," the lawyer repeated patiently but firmly, "Your family´s wealth and lands were obtained illegally. Slave labour, smuggling, numerous tax offenses, prostitution, need I go on?" he asked, looking at the young boy before him. Poor kid. He could keep his title, but that was about all he´d be allowed to keep. Perhaps a few keepsakes maybe.

"So…what are you saying?" Ciel asked wearily, "That Funtom Corporation is being closed down?" He had understood their words, but he refused to believe them.  
"Yes," the detective confirmed, "The Funtom Corporation is being shut down, your properties are being seized, your money is being taken. None of this belongs to your family," he finished with a sigh.

Ciel fell silent for a moment, glancing helplessly at Sebastian who watched calmly. He couldn´t help his young master in this situation. The situation was out of his control.  
"You should probably get your affairs in order," the lawyer continued, "You can no longer afford to pay your staff and this mansion will be put on the market as soon as possible"

Ciel raged at the lawyers and raged again after the lawyers left, but there was nothing he or Sebastian, or anyone really, could do. A few days later people arrived and started packing up furniture and ornaments and valuables from the mansion. It happened bit by bit, given how large the mansion was. It was about six weeks before Ciel had to give in and leave, it was only he and Sebastian left. The others needed jobs, they needed money and had been forced to find other employment.  
Where they would go, Ciel wasn´t sure. He had no money and Sebastian wasn´t a legal guardian. Just his butler. Sebastian said he would happily stay with Ciel, he didn´t need money, he was being paid at the end of Ciel´s life anyway, but this wasn´t the point. Ciel knew that unless a miracle happened, sooner or later he would end up in the workhouse.

As it happened, this miracle came about about two days later in the form of a horse and carriage.  
"A message for Lord Phantomhive," the driver said, passing the note to Sebastian. Sebastian brought it to Ciel, who was in the kitchen. His office, like most downstairs rooms, had been cleared out by now.  
"A note, my Lord" Sebastian said, handing it to Ciel. The boy ripped the envelope open and immediately glanced down to the signature, groaning loudly. This was all he needed. Those damn Indian dorks sticking their noses in.

"My dearest friend Ciel,

I was most upset to hear of your predicament and have been following it in the newspapers here in London. But I´ve got the most wonderful news! I can help you! That is why I sent a carriage, they´ll take you to London.

Your very close friend,  
Prince Soma Asman Kadar

"Absolutely not," Ciel spit, putting the letter down and glaring at it as if the Indian prince was about to jump out from between the lines on the page. He was NOT going to go begging Soma for assistance.  
"If I may, my lord," Sebastian murmured, taking the letter and reading it, "It seems to me that you do not have many other options," he replied, "You have no money, no home to speak of and the only possessions you own are two spare outfits and one family keepsake," he said, "A worthless one at that. You won´t survive very long," he pointed out.

Ciel sighed deeply. "Fine, fetch my bag" he ordered, getting to his feet and making his way out to the carriage. Things were getting very, very dire indeed if he was now relying on Soma for help. Heavens knew what the idiot had planned. Probably some idiotic solution that wouldn´t actually do any good whatsoever. He sighed once more and folded his arms, ignoring Sebastian when the demon joined him and the carriage pulled away. Ciel was painfully aware that this was possibly the last time he´d see his family home. Life as he knew it was now over, he knew this also. The lifestyle he was used to was gone now. Soma was his last hope. That was possibly the worst of it all, Ciel reckoned.

The journey to London was tense and silent. Ciel stared out the window the entire time, only speaking when necessary. After a journey that felt like it had gone on for weeks, the carriage came to a halt outside Ciel´s townhouse and the driver came round to open the door for the passengers.  
"I thought this had been cleared out and sold," Ciel remarked with a frown, walking up towards the door. How was it that these two idiots were still living here? From the outside he could also see that the curtains were different.  
Once Sebastian had opened the door, they stepped into the hall and Ciel looked around, his eyes widening in horror and rage.  
"What the damn have they done to my home?!" he yelled as he took in the brighter walls, colourful curtains and brightly coloured rugs everywhere. It seemed that the townhouse had been redecorated in an Indian style "Who the bloody hell gave him permission to change everything?!" he raged loudly, taking it all in.

"Ciel!" Soma called, rushing out of the drawing room and flinging himself on the irate younger boy who tried unsuccessfully to free himself from the excited prince´s grasp. "I have missed you so much and I was so worried about you!"

"Who the blazes told you you could redecorate my home?!" Ciel demanded, finally managing to push Soma off him.  
"Well that is why I summoned you here," Soma replied happily. Ciel made a noise that almost sounded like a growl. He was so angry that there was practically smoke coming from his ears. He´d summoned him? Soma had _summoned_ him?  
"This is no longer your home," Soma explained, with a wide smile on his face. "It belongs to me. I bought it," he told him. "Well...technically my father bought it, but…I own it. I can decorate it however I want to," he shrugged.

"You own this home?" Ciel repeated in disbelief. Although perhaps it was better it had been sold to someone he knew than to a stranger.  
Soma nodded, glancing at Agni in excitement as the older man joined his prince. He wasn´t so sure that Soma´s plan was a good idea, but it did seem like the best option after he´d given it thought. But who was he to question his prince? Soma did know best after all.  
"And what is your solution to my "predicament" as you phrased it?" Ciel asked, barely managing to remain civil. His fists were clenched in repressed anger at the purple haired boy standing before him.  
"You will live here," Soma answered as if it had been obvious.  
"Absolutely not!" Ciel snapped back, "I do not need and I will not accept your charity," he hissed. Charity was the worst thing of all. He also could imagine nothing worse than having to live with Soma constantly.  
Sebastian opened his mouth to intervene, but Soma cut him off.  
"It wouldn´t be charity," he replied, "You would work here. As my servant," he explained. Sebastian mentally began counting, to find out how long it would be until Ciel exploded. Two and a half seconds apparently.  
"Are you completely insane?! I am an earl! I´m not going to be your servant! I´m Earl Phantomhive! That´s the stupidest idea I´ve ever heard in my life!"  
Sebastian reached forward, touching Ciel´s arm to stop him.  
"May we please have a moment, your highness?" Sebastian asked, escorting Ciel into the drawing room and closing the door.

"If I may, my Lord, you do not seem to have a choice right now," he pointed out. "You have no money, you are currently homeless and all you own are two outfits and one worthless keepsake. How do you intend on feeding yourself?" he asked. "Bear in mind that I told you my fortunes are unavailable for your use," he reminded the boy again. He´d use what he needed to, to spare them sleeping on the street or starving, but he´d refuse to fund Ciel´s lifestyle. If the boy starved to death, it simply meant Sebastian would get the soul owed to him.  
"I will _not_ serve that blundering fool!" Ciel replied, his face turning purple with rage.  
"You will live on the street," Sebastian pointed out calmly.  
"He´s a spoiled idiot!"  
"It´s winter. It´s raining. If you don´t freeze or starve to death, you´ll end up in a workhouse where you´ll probably catch a disease and die." Sebastian looked at his white gloves, brushing off an imaginary speck of dust.  
Ciel glared at his butler for a moment. He wished Sebastian would catch a disease and die. That would teach him. But even he could see that Sebastian had a point. Things really had gotten desperate. He really didn´t have a choice in this. There was no other option.  
Instead of speaking to Sebastian any further, Ciel turned and opened the door, stomping back into the hall and glaring hatefully at the Indians.  
"My Lord has seen sense and will accept your kind offer," Sebastian replied, joining them in the hall. Soma jumped a little, clapping his hands in excitement.  
"Fantastic! I´m so excited!" he said happily. "And don´t worry. Sebastian will be allowed to stay with you if he wishes, I will employ him too," he said, glancing at the demon worriedly and back at Agni. The demon made him uneasy, but Ciel was close to him and he wanted Ciel to be happy.  
"But he is to stay away for two weeks, while you are trained by Agni," Soma announced.  
"What? Why?" Ciel demanded angrily.  
"I will ignore your tone this once," Soma said, his smile fading just a little, "Sebastian, if he chooses to stay, will take a break for two weeks because you are too close to him. I want someone else to train you," he stated. "Someone who will not cater to your every whim and do your chores and duties for you because you believe you still hold some sort of position here"

Ciel pouted furiously. This actually made sense to him. Sebastian looked at Ciel, obviously not happy with this idea.  
"Fine," Ciel decided. "Sebastian obey him. Come back in two weeks." He ordered. Sebastian didn´t think Ciel could survive. Ciel knew that just from Sebastian´s doubtful expression. He´d show him.  
The demon hesitated for a moment before bowing.  
"Yes my Lord," he replied, before leaving reluctantly. He wouldn´t go far. As long as he was nearby, he and Ciel were connected through their seals. Ciel knew how to summon him if he were in trouble.

Ciel watched Sebastian leave and returned his gaze to Soma and Agni.  
"Agni, take Ciel to his new bedroom" Soma ordered, returning to the drawing room.  
"Come with me," Agni told him kindly, taking the small bag Ciel had brought with him and leading him up the stairs.  
"From now on you will sleep in the servants´ quarters, since that is what you are," Agni stated, "But do not worry Ciel. His highness is a kind master. And he cares deeply for you. This way you have a place to live and food to eat. All he expects in return is that you earn your keep," he said. Ciel remained silent, a pout on his face. He was not happy with how his situation had changed. Not one bit.  
They had arrived in the servants quarters and Agni opened a bedroom door, revealing a small bedroom. It was bare and simple. There was a single bed, a window, a wardrobe and in the corner, a small sink and a mirror.  
"What is that?" Ciel demanded, indicating the outfit laid out on the bed.  
"Why it is your uniform," Agni replied, "His highness has requested that you wear it when you work," he answered. Ciel glared at it in disgust. It appeared to be white trousers, a long white shirt that came down to the knees and an undergarment. Typical Indian style. He sighed deeply.  
"Take your time, relax a little, get changed and join me in the kitchen," Agni said, bowing slightly and offering him a friendly smile before he left.  
Ciel sighed and sat on the bed. What a horrific situation. The sooner he and Sebastian figured out how to fix this the better. A servant to Prince Soma, who would have imagined?


	2. Chapter 2

Agni remained in the kitchen preparing the lunch. It had been twenty minutes since he'd brought Ciel to his room and there was no sign of him. He wasn't with Soma because Agni could hear the impatient noises the prince was making and the constant visits to the kitchen to find out if he'd come down.  
"Agni I'm going to go up and fetch him!" Soma announced, appearing in the kitchen again.  
"My prince you know it is not proper for you to be in here," Agni said patiently, putting down the knife he'd been holding. "Besides, this is a very big change for Ciel. He needs some time to adjust."  
"But he's taking so long!" Soma whined, stamping his foot, his lower lip sticking out in a pout.  
"Go into the drawing room, read your book or do your drawings and wait," Agni said respectfully with a smile. "When young Ciel comes down I will send him in with some tea for you."  
"Very well," Soma sighed, "But if he's up there much longer you are to go up there and bring him down. I'm not paying him to sulk in his bedroom," he said, leaving the room.

Agni did not need to go upstairs and bring Ciel down as the young earl appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later. Agni heard the door opening and turned around, expecting to see Prince Soma again, but was pleasantly surprised. Ciel looked around the kitchen before focusing on Agni.

"You look very nice," Agni said with a kind smile as he moved from what he was doing to prepare Soma´s tea. Ciel responded with a glare.  
"I am not happy about this," he said, folding his arms. He looked absolutely ridiculous. Agni simply smiled again.  
"I realise that, but this is really your only option. Prince Soma does not wish for you to live on the street. Besides, he will pay you well and after your training is finished, you will have an afternoon off every week." He told him as he handed him the tray, with a teapot and a cup.  
"What am I to do with this?" Ciel asked, struggling to hold the tray.  
"Bring it to Prince Soma. He has been waiting for you in the drawing room," Agni instructed. For a moment it looked as if Ciel were going to argue back, but instead he turned and walked, unsteadily, to the door. It was better to just get this over with, he figured. It wasn´t ideal but what choice did he have?  
Agni followed behind Ciel, opening doors and generally making sure the boy didn´t drop the tray and break everything, but he managed to make it to the drawing room with no spillages. Agni opened the door for him, but disappeared again. He had a lunch to prepare after all. Having Ciel here to entertain the prince and help with chores would make things slightly easier. Once he´d been trained in. That part, Agni was not looking forward to

Ciel hesitated in the door for a moment, mentally preparing himself for the squeals and the hugs that Soma was going to inflict on him before he stepped into the room with a scowl on his face. Soma was sitting with his back to him, apparently drawing, but he looked up as Ciel approached.  
"You look fantastic!" he said with a wide smile, "I knew I picked out the right style for you. It´s perfect!" he told him. Ciel sighed, placing the tray down in front of Soma and straightening up. The prince watched him expectantly for a moment before speaking.  
"Aren´t you going to pour the tea into the cup?" he asked, cocking his head, "You must pour the tea into the cup. Like all good servants. Surely even you know that much," he remarked, slightly puzzled. Ciel sighed and poured some tea into Soma´s cup, receiving another smile from Soma who stood up and embraced him in a tight hug, ignoring Ciel´s attempts to free himself.  
"I am so happy you agreed to come and work for me, now we can spend so much time together!" he squealed.  
"Let me go!" Ciel growled, trying to push the prince away, but Prince Soma was not going to let go that easily.  
"You are my servant now, I can hug you whenever I wish to," he said, but let go anyway. He stood observing his new servant for a moment before speaking again.  
"You are always so grumpy Ciel. Smile! You must be happy in my presence! I command you to be happy in my presence," he said brightly, watching as Ciel´s scowl simply deepened.  
"I am not going to smile," he replied through gritted teeth. This time Soma frowned.  
"The correct answer is ´yes your highness´" he told him, "Or ´yes my prince´. Agni prefers that one." He added. "Still. Never mind that now, play chess with me," he said excitedly, but his excitement faded when Ciel picked up the tray and headed to the door.  
"I have work to do. I don´t have time for you or your silly games," he snapped, opening the drawing room door. To his surprise it was slammed shut again and he was face to face with an angry Indian prince.  
"Ciel you are my friend and I am going to have to be harsh for your own good. To help you learn" he said, "You are a servant here. You do not seem to understand that. Your work is doing whatever I order you to do, not whatever you feel like doing," he told him furiously, his golden eyes glittering in anger.  
"If I tell you to do something, you don´t walk away. You respond with "Yes your Highness" and you do it immediately. Do you understand?" he demanded.  
For a moment Ciel didn´t speak, but glared back at Soma furiously.  
"Do not look at me like that and answer my question," Soma shouted, "Do you understand?"  
"Yes," Ciel answered after a moment. Soma raised an eyebrow expectantly and folded his arms.

"Yes your Highness, I understand," Ciel said, not bothering to hide his sigh. He´d known Soma would make this difficult. Soma gave a happy laugh.

"Good. You have learned something. Now. Play chess with me," Soma requested again, cheering up a little bit.  
"Yes your highness," Ciel responded with barely concealed rage. But this time he did turn away so that Soma wouldn´t see the furious look on his face.

Ciel spent the next hour and a half playing chess and card games with Soma. The worst part was that he could think of nothing to get himself out of it. He had no other duties apart from keeping the prince entertained. Eventually Agni interrupted to tell them lunch was ready. Good Ciel was starving. It had been a long morning. But it turned out that Soma was eating alone. Ciel was told to stand and watch Agni serving, watch how he did it. Ciel observed with annoyance while Soma chatted incessantly. When Ciel it became too much, Ciel gave a groan of annoyance and found himself being walked to the kitchen.  
"Ciel, Prince Soma did you a favour," Agni said patiently, "He took you in and gave you a job to save you from a workhouse. This means he is your master. You cannot show him annoyance." He explained, ignoring the withering look Ciel shot him. "You must listen, converse and keep him happy and in good spirits. There will be consequences if you don´t and as you are Prince Soma´s friend and servant I don´t want to have to punish you,"  
With that, the tall Indian returned out, followed by Ciel. Soma was still talking. Had he stopped at all when they´d left? Idiot, Ciel thought silently.

Some reprieve did come after dinner when Agni provided some of the curry he´d made for Ciel. He sat in the kitchen once Soma had disappeared and the dishes had been cleared from the dining room. Agni had gone with Soma. Apparently there were advantages to being Prince Soma´s servant, Ciel thought as he flicked through a newspaper on the table. Soma didn´t come down to the kitchen and their different social classes meant that he and the prince would not be eating together. Finally some peace from his incessant chatter, hugs and stupid games. Ciel was beginning to suspect that Soma had hired him as some sort of companion/pet.  
Once he´d assisted Agni in washing the dishes, Soma rang for him and the rest of the afternoon was spent playing board games, having discussions and at one point teaching Soma the rules of fencing. All the while, Ciel fantasised about all of the gruesome things he´d have Sebastian do to the prince were it possible.  
Dinner passed the same as lunch. Agni served while Ciel watched. Although this time he was expected to pour a drink once or twice. Once again he was left to eat his dinner in peace. Agni was with him this time, but he didn´t mind that. Agni didn´t insist on chattering non -stop about idiotic topics.  
But Soma did call him back in after this, asking him to read to him. Ciel´s patience was running very thin now, but luckily Soma was very easily entertained and found Ciel´s brusque and grumpy tone amusing as he read.  
"I need you to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen a little," Agni told him when he returned to the kitchen "You don´t need to do a huge cleaning job, just make sure the counters are clean and sweep the floors. The last thing we need are rats around" he said. "I will help the prince to prepare for bed and afterwards we can have some tea," Agni said offering the boy a friendly smile as he left.  
Ciel seriously considered disobeying, but the idea that he might have to return to Soma and have more "what if goldfish had legs?" types of conversations. He might actually push the prince out of his bedroom window.  
Agni returned just as Ciel was finishing and looked around the kitchen. The dishes were put away. There were splashes of water on the kitchen counters, but still. It was more than he´d expected from the young earl.  
"What do I do with this?" Ciel indicated the dust on the floor that he´d managed to sweep.  
Hiding a smile, Agni fetched a dustpan and showed him how to gather up the dust.  
Once he´d made the tea, they sat down.  
"How was your day?" Agni asked gently. The boy looked tired.  
"Long," Ciel replied, "I don´t know how you can work like this and stay sane," he told him. How did Agni work so well and patiently and still have a smile on his face? But the Indian gave a gentle laugh.  
"Poor Ciel," he said softly, "All you have done today is wash some dishes and play games with the prince," he pointed out. That was practically nothing. There was a lot more to it than that.  
"Tomorrow morning you start work properly," he said, "The prince and I decided that it was better to ease you into it today,"  
"That´s….not a typical work day?" he asked, sipping his tea and putting the cup down.  
"Well no. In the morning I will wake you up when I get up and we will have a cup of tea and some breakfast before the prince is woken up." He explained, "After his breakfast you will have chores to do, along with whatever the prince needs,"  
"That sounds horrific," Ciel muttered, sipping some more tea.  
"You could always leave," Agni offered, "Although I do not know where you could go, especially tonight," he said, glancing out the window at the heavy rain. He smiled, seeing the face Ciel made.  
"You will adjust," he told him gently. "It will be difficult, but sooner or later you will see what Soma has done for you"


End file.
